Joint pain and swelling are common manifestations of many musculoskeletal and rheumatologic diseases. As a result, the differential diagnosis of childhood joint pain and swelling is large and includes both benign and serious conditions. The assessment of a child with joint pain and/or swelling needs to differentiate between conditions of varying severity, especially those that require urgent medical intervention [1].

The differential diagnosis of childhood joint pain or swelling is broad, ranging from benign to serious conditions, some of which can have devastating consequences (eg, septic arthritis) (table 1). The categories of possible disease that may present with joint pain and/or swelling are included in the following mnemonic, ARTHRITIS:

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